Thomas County cat., 1887-01-20


ence to commands. / did not know
until now that gang of twenty OF
more of the fellows at Ke-Lung had at
tempted to induce the captain to give
them passage to the island of Tseeusan,
which we meant to visit. They had of
fered big passage money and were will
ing to put up with any accommoda-
tiOns, but he mistrdsted them, and
firmly declined to have one OF
them aboard. The steward and fire.
men were soundly berated by the cap
tain and threatened with irons if any
more trouble occurred, and there the
matter was dropped. At the close OF
the second day we dropped anchor of
small island to the southwest OF
Tseeusan called Kung-Wah. There was
no harbor, but the depth of the water
length of the beach in a comparatively
sheltered spot.
Captain Tabor had traded at this
island a year before, and he knew that
the natives were all right as long as
they were kept in awe by a superior
force. There was a trader on the isl
and who had a large stock Of roots, and
after a palaver lasting two days and
nights, the supercargo finally made a
bargain with him. 1t was observed by
the captain that some change had come
over the natives, for on his previous
trip they had been eager to close a
bargain at any figure named. The ma
tives in our crew had been permitted to
90 ashore, and dozen or so of the
leading men of the island had come
aboard and inspected us. 1t was night
of the second day before trade was
agreed upon. On the following day
we were to begin landing and recciv-
ing goods. There was big crowd of
natives on shore opposite the steamer,
and they had canoes, catamarans and
dhOws enough to have embarked three
hundred people. Just before night
closed in we sighted a large junk COM
ing down from the direction of FormO-
sa, but gave hes no particular atten-
ton. At about nine O'Clock she came
jogging along at tramp's gait and
dropped her mud hook within two hun
dred feet of us. gave her a looking
over with the night-glass, and as only
five or six men could be made out on
her decks it was natural to conclude
that she was a trader.
Being in port, with fair weather for
the night, the crew might expect that
only an anchor watch would be MAIN
tanned. The men must therefore have
been somewhat surprised when Cap
tain Tabor invited our FIVE natives to
go ashore, and spend the night with
their friends, and announced to the
rest Of us that we should stand watch
and watch. The cook was the only
native who did not go. He declared
that ne had enemies ashore who would
kill him, and he was therefore allowed
to occupy his accustomed quarters.
There were ten of us besides him, and
soon after the junk anchored, the guns
were cast loose and loaded with grape,
the firearms brought up and made
ready, and the engineer was instructed
to keep steam enough to permit us to
move. The cable was arranged for
slipping, and then five men turned in
"all standing" and the other five of us
stood watch. Before this occurred the
captain said to me:
"Mr. Graham, this may be going to
a good deal of trouble for nothing, but
the man who deals with these natives
has got to be prepared for any emer-
gency. If they trouble us it will not be
until after midnight. l will therefore
head the second watch. Keep your eye
on that junk. and permit no boat to
come aboard under any circumstances.
l distributed my men over the vessel
to the best advantage, and reserved to
myself the right to act as free lance.
That is, 1 went from one part of the
vessel to another. and kept one eye on
the junk and the other on the beach.
All was very quiet up to 1l:3O o'clock.
when made two discoveries in quick
succession. The cook had prepared Il
large dish of coffee for our use during
the night. We had large urn on
stand in one corner of the dining-rOOm.
and a lamp underneath kept the coffee
hot. The same thing is in general use
in American hotels and restaurants.
l was on the point of entering the
cabin to secure drink of the beverage
when. as had passed an open window,
heard the cover of the urn rattle, and
then caught the footsteps of some one
in retreat. 1t could be none other than
the native cook, l argued. but l did
not go to his quarters to verify or dis
prove my suspicious. l entered the
cabin, turned up the light. and care
fully examined the urn. The rascal
had certainly .'dosed'' it. There was
a grayish powder on the cover and on
the edge of the urn, and in his haste he
had spilled some on the floor. A look
inside showed numerous bubbles OH the
surface of the liquid, but these
broke and disappeared while 1 was